James Grill sent
me this article from NPR. It looks at the difference between feeding cows grass (their natural food) vs. corn. It looks at taste, cost and (surprising for me) nutrition. For you, what is the most important aspect of how your choose your protein (and why)?
i would choose the grass fed beef over corn fed even if it does cost more money. cows werent made to eat or digest corn, so they are also fed bunches of chemicals and antibiotics as well (read in defense of food by micheal pollan). the fact that corn fed beef is kept in a tiny pen (reason why its more tender) means its standing in its own filth all day which also gets in their food. eeeeew. (watch food inc.) in the video the woman says she doesnt like that the grass fed tastes beefier but i personally dont understand why one would eat beef if they didnt want beef flavor and if you know how to cook it right the cornfed beef doesnt always have to be the tougher meat.
ReplyDeletein the end i would consider anybod who wouldnt want grass fed beef to be crazy
- camille cooper
Recently I have been leaning towards the organic free range chicken as well as grass fed cattle. I had no idea about the omega 3 fatty acids in grass fed cattle, but its nice to know. Obviously taste is very important to me as well as fat content, but what is even more important is how the animals are being treated and fed.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite restuarants back home has an awesome burger which happens to come from a local farm and the cattle is grass fed. To be honest its my favorite burger its really the only thing I get when I go there and knowing that its coming from a sustainable source makes me happy as well. Bottom line thats the way animals are supposed to be treated and fed.
I would have to say that I try and purchase gas fed cattle when possible. Obviously, as a chef I have a great care for what my medium (beef) is going to taste like; however, many other reasons lead me to choose grass fed over corn fed. The first is the lifestyle of the animal. I would much rather purchase from a farmer who raises his or her cattle in grass fed pastures, where the animals aren't lined kept in enclosed spaces. My belief is that animals should be raised in as closed to their natural habitat as possible, including natural food intake and grazing. Forcing fortified corn, chemicals, and antibiotics into cows is simply wrong to me. Chefs have a responsibility to where their food comes from, and this includes the life quality of animals prior to and including slaughter.
ReplyDeleteWhile some my criticize that the beef may be more "chewy" due to the more develop muscles fibers, a strong counter point is available. A chef with strong technique is going to have the knowledge and ability to execute a method of cooking to render the beef to desired tenderness. A piece of beer should taste and feel like beef, not masked by something else.
I think for me, grass-fed meat would be my ultimate choice. Yea it may cost more and the taste may not overall be what i am used to but what counts is that it is healthier for you. Cows are naturally supposed to eat grass. The corn that they are often fed is not what their bodies are used to. So on top of the poor treatment they receive they are pumped full of antibiotics and hormones to help them digest the corn. All these antibiotics and hormones eventually end up in our food. Overall that definitely affects us. The production of grass fed cows just seems more logically, ethical, and it is natural. Who wants there food pumped with unnatural chemicals? I for sure do not. So if I had the choice I would choose not to buy meat that was raised from corn fed cows.
ReplyDeleteI see this as being one of the most difficult questions a chef must face. Politics and personal accountability verses taste and customer satisfaction. Where do we draw the line? As a future chef I want to provide to my guest a meal that is as much and if not more than a life experience, something they will not forget. Can I do that if I compromise quality for a political or moral agenda? In most cases yes, more often than not organic products do offer more in the flavor department than it’s manufactured counter part. But there are some cases such as this beef issue that counter the norm. Most people in the culinary world know that an animal that is limited in exercise yields more fat and fat equals taste. I would not like to have my server present a steak with a clause attached to it stating something like “well yes I know the steak is a bit tuff but it comes from a cow that was grass feed and raised humanly”. Will the customer care or will he want a more tender piece of meat and look to the next restaurant that will provide that to him. It’s a complicated moral dilemma. To play devils advocate to myself, I must acknowledge that I would like to be able to sleep at night and know that I contribute as minimally as possible to the inhumane treatments to another living creature. The other factor that plays into this would be cost. My restaurant will more than likely pay more for the cow raised more organically than I will for a cow raised in a “plant”. So in turn I will have to charge my customer more for the less desirable cut of meat than I would the other. One last view point would be that of just individual health. Cows that eat a diet of corn and processed pellets have issues digesting this type of food and because of that will require antibiotics to fight off frequent infections, which I will be ingesting when I eat said steak. I have never been a person who takes any kind of medication unless absolutely necessary and the idea of consuming them while eating is a backwards notion all together. Perhaps I will not serve steak in my restaurant to avoid the issue all together.
ReplyDeleteIn food safey we learned that feeding corn to cattle raises the PH. The PH raise causes E-coli to have a happy home to become better and stronger. Now I learned that the first day. This guy didn't even come near the subject.
ReplyDeleteBeyond the flavor, grass fed cows are actually happier. If for nothing else, people should go for grass fed beef because its more humane for the animals.
ReplyDeleteAnother point is that grass fed cows have the opportunity to move around and eat things that are natural to them. This allows them to build up their immune systems and the cows are therefore more healthy and don't need additional injections to help prevent illnesses which are brought on by poor diet and crowded conditions.
It tastes better too.
I try to choose a protein that has not been exposed to a lot of antibiotics. I am really convinced that the reason there are so many allergies to antibiotics, is because the average person is so exposed to them through meat and dairy products. I try to get organic meat and milk. Also, corn is not the most nutritious staple. It's used to fatten up the animal, so it will in turn yield more meat. I think this is bad, because I believe "you are what you eat." Since corn is meant to fatten livestock, what do you think it does to humans? I don't wish to eat something that ate something so unhealthy. I'm not saying I always buy organic everything, that habit gets expensive. But I do try to buy things that may not have been given a ton of corn as their main staple.
ReplyDeleteI'm a little bit confused that why people in the video prefered the corn fed cow better than grass fed because I expected that the grass fed must be much more delicious. I believe that if they raise any animals with their proper food, give them some space and let them live happily the meat should be better, unlike the corn fed cow as that don't get to walk and have fresh air. Personally I don't know what I had was grass fed or corn fed but it's really interesting to know. I should try to taste and compare how I feel by myself sometimes. However, I believe that to feed the cow in pasture should be better.
ReplyDeleteNam
Grass fed beef is the way to go in my eyes, especially if you care about what your eatting. The cows in general are more happy and more active. Being able to exercise by simply moving around and eating different grasses would make a happier cow, hence better meat. It goes on the same note as the guy in Spain who lets his geese eat a natural diet and roam 'free'. The geese are happier he says, and the foie gras that is produced is top notch.
ReplyDeleteSure animals are raised for human consumption, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't be happy and healthier in the short lives they have.
I worked at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse for 4 years and if there is anything I learned, it is the unctuous, delicious, melt-in-your-mouth flavor of corn-fed beef. Do I think its good for the environment (via antibiotics)? No. Do I wan't to pay twice as much at the grocery store for a grass-fed product? No. So I'll stick with my corn-fed deliciousness even if I am selling my soul to the proverbial devil.
ReplyDeletephilip kinney-
ReplyDeleteI recently finished reading the Omnivores Dilemma by Michel Poland, which makes this an interesting for myself. I personally would choose grass fed beef over grain. Cows are not supposed to eat corn because of they possess a rumen which is the stomach that digest the grass The rumen is meant to processes the bacteria that is involved with the grass. Cows have been corn fed for a couple of reasons, one included to deal with the huge corn surplus and another to make the cow grow much faster than it normally would increasing product. With this said it causes the cattle to be naturally high in fat and it changes the omega 3 omega (7?)(9?) balance. This is an important factor that actually makes it worse for us to eat; as the balances of theses chemicals is more important than the quantity themselves. Grass fed cattle are also for the most part taken care of in better facilities/ farms which is one ethical dilemma I have for eating grain fed cattle and For those reasons regarding health, ethical, and taste I would choose grass fed cattle over grain.
After this article, I want to do a taste test of my own so I can be the judge of just how different the taste is to me personally. If I find that the grass fed beef is not quite as good, but still good, I would be willing to make a change. Just the fact that the cows live a more natural life would make it worth it to me right away. On the other hand, if I wanted to make the best possible tasting steak, then it would be hard for me to beat my corn fed bone-in ribeye with all that great marbled fat. So I guess it depends upon the type of meal I would be cooking. Maybe for the next cookout I have with classmates, I'll do a little taste testing with friends.
ReplyDeleteI think the difference is to small to worry about. The economy is to bad to worry about a small things in life.
ReplyDeleteBrian M Gries
It's surprising to me that grass fed beef would not be as tender as grain fed beef considering Kobe beef, wildly considered the best tasting beef in the world, is grass fed. I understand it is someones preference to what they may like, but making a broad statement about all beef is irresponsible and arrogant. Considering the organic movement that is sweeping the nation, grass fed beef is the more natural way of raising cattle and supplying the consumer with a quality product.
ReplyDeletesw766639
Being a culinary student, I am concerned primarily with how my product tastes. Who I buy my food from, how it looks, and how much it costs all come second to taste. If grass-fed cows show better taste, the choice is clear. Having a dash of onion in the taste because the cow munched on some onion grass is like a taste bonus. The meat being leaner and healthier is an added benefit for the consumer. The only downfall to grass-fed cows is the price. But a good, healthy taste is priceless.
ReplyDeleteAnother way I look at the situation is from a cow's stand point. I am a cow on a local farm raised for meat. I can either be given freedom to wander around all day eating nice, crisp, fresh from the earth grass at my will... or I can be cooped up in a barn all day with hundreds of my friends eating corn just so I can be a little bigger. It is like steroids for cows. The wrestler with all the steroids may win the match, but what do those steroids do to him?
Until now I have chosen my protein due to taste. When you don't know the stories behind the product, or how it gets to your table, it's easier to tell yourself that it's not your problem and that even if there is a problem in the first place, there's nothing you can do about it. However, now that I've learned about it, I feel the need to learn more about where ym food comes from, and if possible, buy it from someone who prespects the animal. Being a picky eater, I only eat beef, pork and chicken in the first place. If I did eat foie gras I would feel bad about it. Now I just feel justified. If the conditions of the cows were better, and they were allowed to graze, then they wouldn't need to be force-fed corn in the first place. It would take longer, and would cost more....but I guess the question that needs to be asked is....how much money is worth the suffering of other creatures?
ReplyDeleteKH717358@mycia.net
Definitely the quality and the ethics of the producer. I think food should be eaten the way nature intended...all-natural. If cows naturally eat grass then that's what they should eat, nothing more nothing less. By feeding cows corn and god-forbid beef, that throws off the natural order of things, which in the end affects us.
ReplyDeleteManny Mendoza MM871676
As I have become more educated on the subject, I find it very important to be eating natural foods. Personally, I find that eating animals that ate what they were biologically created to eat to be so much more flavorful. Sure there are variations in flavor, but there are variations in all aspects of life, why should food be any different? To answer my own question, it shouldn't. I have had the pleasure of using grass-fed beef in my restaurants, as well as cage free chickens, and local egg and produce farmers that feed there products the nutrients they were designed for, the results are amazing and it is very hard not to seek it out at all cost. Convincing the masses that have become complacent with blandness and demanding that all things should taste the same to open up their minds and enjoy things in their natural state is hard to do.
ReplyDeleteI prefer grass fed over corn fed cows for several reasons. Grass fed is healthier with omega-3s, as well as being a leaner cut of meat, and if you are going to eat red meat you might as well choose the healthiest option. I also feel that grass fed cows are treated with more respect. They are allowed to live like a cow! They have the freedom to walk around and eat grasses. Corn fed cows are often caged up together in a small space, forced to feed on corn which is not a normal part of their diet, and the farmers main focus is raising a cow as quick as possible and as fat as possible, not respecting like the living creator that it is. I think that is an ethical problem. I also feel that grass feed cows somehow contribute to the environment by eating grasses and balancing out the ecosystem. The cows then can serve a dual purpose, one for the earth and one as a food source. I believe that taste is objective, if you are used to eating corn fed beef then grass of course will taste different. Over time you can get used to the flavor and appreciate it for what it is. As for price, I feel that grass fed beef is a higher quality item and I am willing to pay the difference, the same way I pay a higher price for fresher, local produce. I believe that a happier cow is a tastier cow. Just as fish from the sea taste better to me then farm raised fish. I also feel like a more responsible eater when eating grass feed cows. I am making a choice to eat grass fed because I do not agree with the treatment of the corn fed cows and therefore have made a statement (so be it a small one) against industrial farming and its behaviors.
ReplyDelete